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Inside Ancient Asteroids, Gamma Rays Made Building Blocks of Life

January 4, 2023

A new radiation-based mechanism adds to the ways that amino acids could have been made in space and brought to the young Earth.

The Year in Physics

December 22, 2022

In a year filled with sweet new observations in astronomy and tantalizing breakthroughs in condensed matter physics, the brand-new space telescope takes the cake.

The Year in Computer Science

December 21, 2022

Computer scientists this year learned how to transmit perfect secrets, why transformers seem so good at everything, and how to improve on decades-old algorithms (with a little help from AI).

‘Fullertubes’ Join the Family of Carbon Crystals

December 20, 2022

The buckminsterfullerene revolution never came, but some researchers are eagerly exploring the properties of newfound carbon crystals known as fullertubes.

Q&A

She Turns Fluids Into ‘Black Holes’ and ‘Inflating Universes’

December 12, 2022

By using fluids to model inaccessible realms of the cosmos, Silke Weinfurtner is “looking for a deeper truth beyond one system.” But what can such experiments teach us?

Asymmetry Detected in the Distribution of Galaxies

December 5, 2022

Two new studies suggest that certain tetrahedral arrangements of galaxies outnumber their mirror images, potentially reflecting details of the universe’s birth. But confirmation is needed.

Crucial Computer Program for Particle Physics at Risk of Obsolescence

December 1, 2022

Maintenance of the software that’s used for the hardest physics calculations rests almost entirely with a retiree. The situation reveals the problematic incentive structure of academia.

Physicists Create a Holographic Wormhole Using a Quantum Computer

November 30, 2022

The unprecedented experiment explores the possibility that space-time somehow emerges from quantum information.

Why This Universe? A New Calculation Suggests Our Cosmos Is Typical.

November 17, 2022

Two physicists have calculated that the universe has a higher entropy — and is therefore more likely — than alternative possible universes.

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